The National Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesiology Faculty
We have an incredibly faculty team that consists of experts in their field and are dedicated to training Nurse Anesthesiologists (CRNAs) to work to the top of their scope of practice and license
Dr. Joseph Martin
Program Director / Professor
Dr. Joseph “Joe” Martin, DNP, CRNA, is the president and owner of Advanced Anesthesia, Incorporated. Dr. Martin is also the Program Director and faculty at National University’s Nurse Anesthesiology Program. He maintains an active clinical practice, and is active in growing his company’s footprint in providing anesthesia services to multiple surgery centers in California. Dr. Martin received his Doctor of Nursing Practice in Anesthesiology at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He completed his general, pediatric, obstetric and cardiovascular anesthesiology residency at Texas Health Southwest in Fort Worth, Texas. After graduation, he returned to his roots and moved back to Fresno, CA, where he set up his private clinical practice. He is happily married with 2 young children. He enjoys fast cars, cycling and spending time traveling with his family.
Dr. Michael MacKinnon
Assistant Program Director / Associate Professor
Dr. Michael MacKinnon, DNP, FNP-C CRNA FAANA is a managing partner in a CRNA-owned group in Arizona and the assistant program director for National University. Dr. MacKinnon received his masters in Nurse Anesthesiology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2009. His Nurse Practitioner post masters certificate from UMASS Boston, Massachusetts in 2015 and his doctorate from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2018 (Rolltide!).
He was inducted as a fellow in the AANA in 2021. He has lectured all over the country in ultrasound regional anesthesia, Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS), professional advocacy and the business of anesthesia. Dr. MacKinnon has been working in Independent CRNA practice since graduation.
He is a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology and a past President of the Arizona Association of Nurse Anesthesiology. Additionally, he serves on the Arizona Perinatal Trust as a board member. Dr. MacKinnon has authored/co-authored multiple journal publications as well. He is currently on the Outpatient Surgery magazine editorial board and an article reviewer for the AANA Journal.
He is happily married with 3 children. He enjoys Harley Davidson riding, professional advocacy and spending time with his family.
Dr. Lee Ranalli
Faculty / Clinical Assistant Professor
Lee Ranalli, DNP, CRNA graduated from the Kaiser Permanente School of Anesthesia in 2010 and then moved back to his home state of Arizona. In 2015, after serving multiple years as a Chief CRNA, he decided to pursue his passion of education by becoming an Assistant Professor at Midwestern University’s Nurse Anesthesia Program. In 2020, he began teaching at National University’s Nurse Anesthesia program. Professor Ranalli is responsible for topics such as principles of anesthesia, epidemiology, and evidence-based practice to name a few. He received his Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Alabama. Professor Ranalli has had the opportunity to lecture at multiple CRNA conferences throughout the country on topics such as obstetric anesthesia, second-victim phenomena, and substance use disorder. He is a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology and a past President of the Arizona Association of Nurse Anesthesiology. Additionally, he serves on the Arizona State Board of Nursing’s Advanced Practice Advisory Committee. Professor Ranalli has authored multiple journal publications and co-authors the Obstetric Anesthesia chapter within the textbook Nurse Anesthesia.
Dr. Joseph Rodriguez
Faculty / Clinical Assistant Professor
Joseph A. Rodriguez, DNAP, CRNA, is a managing partner at Arizona Anesthesia Solutions (AzAS), a multi-state group of 100 CRNAs and MDs, based in Phoenix, AZ.
Dr. Rodriguez is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, and finished his doctorate at Midwestern University, Phoenix, AZ. After 10 years of clinical practice entirely in autonomous practice, and 8 years in Arizona Anesthesia Solutions, Dr. Rodriguez now focuses on business strategy and operations for the AzAS, regularly speaking to healthcare administrators on increasing value of their anesthesiology departments.
Dr. Rodriguez is the former president of the Arizona Association of Nurse Anesthesiology and has served on the board of directors for the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology. Dr. Rodriguez has led or been part of successful regulatory and professional reforms at the state and federal level, including statutory reform on CRNA independent practice, discharge authority, prescriptive authority, removing federal supervision (i.e. “opt out”) and stopping anti-competitive anesthesiologist assistant legislation. Furthermore, he was a proponent of updating anesthesiology nomenclature to include “nurse anesthesiologist” along with other professionals such as “physician anesthesiologist” and “dentist anesthesiologist”.
He maintains a faculty position at National University, and has written for The Washington Times, Anesthesiology News, The Arizona Capitol Times, and Outpatient Surgery. He speaks nationally on business and leadership.
Dr. Eric Kramer
Faculty / Clinical Assistant Professor
Eric Kramer DNAP, CRNA, FNP-C Graduated from Case Western Reserve with his MSN and CRNA degrees (2010). After working in Ohio for a few years, his family moved to Mexico in 2014, where he provided full-service anesthesia for an isolated mission hospital for 5 years. During that time he filled various roles, including hospitalist covering inpatient adults and pediatrics, ER, labor and delivery, a tuberculosis clinic, interm medical director, head of nursing, head of medical/nursing students and residents.
He also helped develop and oversee the ground and flight medevac programs. In 2017 he obtained his FNP-C from Case Western to expand his capabilities.
In 2019 Dr Kramer and his family moved back to Ohio. He obtained his doctorate from Missouri State in 2019, and joined National University in 2020. In addition to long-term missions, Dr Kramer has extensive experience in shorter missions, and has been an active member in Samaritan’s Purse DART teams (Mosul, Iraq and Ebola in the Congo).
His areas of interest include Point of Care Ultrasound and clinical engagement of NU nurse anesthesia residents in global missions while in their residency.
Sheena Kramer RDMS
Adjunct Faculty
Sheena Kramer originally earned a bachelor’s degree in middle childhood education and spent the first several years of her career teaching math and science. In 2014 she moved to a missions hospital in Mexico with her husband (NU Anesthesia Faculty Dr. Eric Kramer) and their two kids. During her 5 years there she began to realize the utility of ultrasound in austere settings, as medical staff heavily relied on it as the only imaging modality besides x-ray. After moving back to the US in 2019, this increasing interest motivated her to go back to school to study ultrasound. In 2022, she became a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS) after completing Cleveland Clinic Mercy’s ultrasound program. She’s excited about combining her teaching and ultrasound skills to further develop NU Anesthesia’s POCUS emphasis.
Shannon Patrick
Faculty / Clinical Assistant Professor
Shannon Patrick, DNP-C, MSNA, CRNA graduated from National University in 2017 where the focus of his research was the use of tranexamic acid in Trauma and Neuro Trauma. Upon graduation, he began his career as an independently practicing CRNA at a Level 1 trauma center. He then moved to practicing at community hospitals and outpatient surgery centers. As his career continued, he saw that preoperative anesthetic management was lacking at some facilities and he began to assist the administration in implementing evidence-based pre-operative policies. In 2021 Professor Patrick was recruited to teach at National University. Here he took his passion for preoperative anesthesia with him to the classroom. Professor Patrick teaches the Preoperative Anesthesia and Physical Assessment course, along with Principles of Anesthesia II, Biostatistics, and Anatomy Lab. Professor Patrick is in the final year of completing his Doctorate in Nursing Practice at the University of Alabama where he is researching independent CRNA practice. Outside of teaching and practicing anesthesia he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children and following English Premier League soccer.
Mark Wright
Faculty / Clinical Assistant Professor
Mark Wright is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) with a foundation in both clinical practice and academia. He studied Biology at the University of Texas at Austin before transitioning to nursing. Subsequently, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Texas at Tyler. Mark is driven by a specialized interest in anesthesia; he completed a Master of Nursing in Anesthesia at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. There, he received the Student Agatha Hodgins Memorial Award.
Currently, Mark is enrolled in a Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Alabama, furthering his academic career as a nurse anesthesiologist. Mark enjoys mentoring nurse anesthesia residents within clinical environments and is enthusiastic about his upcoming role in the didactic setting at National University.
Dr. Jory Leiss
Faculty / Clinical Assistant Professor
Dr. Jory Leiss, DNAP, CRNA is a graduate of National University DNAP program Dr. Leiss is our full-time instructor for the hands-on, in-person portion of the program. He is proud to be part of a program that is passionate about fostering the development of independently practicing CRNAs and he thoroughly enjoys teaching procedural skills and helping our nurse anesthesia residents bring it all together to prepare for their clinical training.
Dr. Gabriel Alvarez Garcia
Part Time Faculty / Assistant Part Time Professor
I am an independent, doctorate-level Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) focusing on safe and cost-effective treatment while maintaining exceptional care. It energizes me to provide top-of-the-line pain management and post-anesthesia care for various surgical, medical, and obstetric procedures using local, regional, and general anesthesia methods. When under high stress, I make accurate, immediate decisions that have proven successful for patient outcomes. People describe me as an approachable leader who thrives on collaboration and team building. Improving patient outcomes through continuous improvement initiatives truly rewards me.